5. Request referrals

Ask your subscribers to recommend your newsletter to their friends and family. Encourage them to forward your newsletter to people they know who might like it. A good number of those who receive it *will* subscribe.

6. Cross-promote

Put notices about your newsletter on your web site, business cards, up in your office, on your invoices, everywhere.

7. Announce, Announce, Announce

There are many, many announcement lists that inform readers about new ezines each and every day. Routinely submit your newsletter info to as many of these lists as possible... and do so at least once a month.

8. Ad-Swaps

Is there a ezine that you subscribe to that you like? Contact editor/publisher and see if they would be willing to publish an ad for your ezine with one of theirs. Chances are they're as eager to grow their ezine as you are to grow yours.

9. Give Articles Away

Just like yours, there are a lot of other ezines out there that need original, high-quality content. So help them (and help yourself) by sending them some of your original articles. Most newsletters will give a short byline and include a link to your website or ezine subscription address.

10. Make it easy!

Above all, make it easy for people to subscribe. Include subscribe instructions in each issue, on your website, in you

place of business, etc. The more difficult it is for them to subscribe, greater chances are that they won't.

Once your visitor has arrived, get them to most popular areas of your site without delay. You have less than 20 seconds to make an impression. Most visitors will be gone if they have not found something of value within that time frame.

o Ask for a visitors email address as soon as they arrive.

The very next thing you should do is ask visitors for their email address. They'll love you for giving them a way to stay in touch and your business will grow endlessly. Not asking right away was a mistake I was making for years. A recent adjustment at my home page has resulted in DOUBLE number of subscribers to my newsletter each day. Consider this one-two punch of attention grabbing and address grabbing as critical to your long-term success.

o Be brief.

Nearly everything you write at your site can be said with half words. Remember, paragraphs that are longer than 60 words are too long, particularly on your main page. (This little paragraph is 60 words!) A wall of text scares web surfers away. Stick to point. Use bulleted lists if you can, they make for an easier read.

CHANGES TO CONSIDER IN YOUR EZINE:

o Describe each issue in subject line.

I learned this lesson personally. My own readership increased when I stopped naming each issue "BizWeb Gazette" and started telling my readers what each issue contained, right in subject line. Don't wait to get your readers attention. Grab it BEFORE they decide whether or not to open your message. Take a few minutes to name each issue with a subject that you yourself would be interested in. It should be intriguing and relevant to your subscribers.

o Shorten your newsletter.

I see more and more publishers streamlining their e- publications. In this age of information overload, less is sometimes more. When subscribers have 100 messages waiting in their inbox it is hard to set aside 15 minutes to read one newsletter. Try to publish something that can be devoured in five minutes or less. A good rule of thumb is to keep it under 20k in size. Your readers will be more likely to read it from top to bottom and you'll earn a faithful following.